Chapter 2

I watched Joey disappear through the exam hall door, and the breath I'd been holding finally escaped.

I picked up my pen and wrote so fast that my hand was almost a blur. Every wrong answer I'd deliberately planted in my head was gone. The real solutions came flooding back.

I switched every multiple choice back to the correct option. I filled in the right answers for the short-response questions and laid out every free-response solution step by step, formulas and derivations included.

The students around me were still chewing their pen caps and tugging at their hair, but I finished the entire exam in half an hour and checked it over three times.

When I was done, I stacked my scratch paper in order by question number, neat and clean, and tucked it under my exam booklet. If anyone tried to come after me later, that complete trail of work was all the proof I needed that I hadn't cheated.

I stood up calmly before the bell rang and turned in my paper.

Walking out of the exam hall, I spotted Joey leaning against the hallway railing, bragging to her friends. She was saying the exam had been ridiculously easy, that she'd basically aced it, and that she had her pick of the top schools.

She noticed me come out, and her eyes lit up. She flashed me an exaggerated peace sign, aimed right at me.

Her lips moved slowly, deliberately, making sure I caught every word. "That Ivy spot? I'll be taking it. Thanks."

The comments appeared again, hovering just at the edge of my vision.

"Our girl is absolutely iconic. I love her so much."

"The side character's face must be green right now. She is no match for our Joey."

"Go, Joey, go! That acceptance letter is practically in the mail!"

The corner of my mouth curved, just barely. Joey had no idea that every answer on her sheet was one I'd hand-fed her. And every single one was wrong.

The moment I stepped out of the exam hall, I heard a voice trembling with tears.

"Dad, El's coming out."

I looked up to see Joey buried in Dad's arms. Mom stood beside them, rubbing Joey's back in slow circles. A cluster of parents and students from our school had gathered around, craning their necks to watch, their faces bright with curiosity.

When she saw me walking over, Joey lifted her tear-streaked face and cranked her voice up several notches.

"I know you're still upset about getting caught copying my answers on all those practice exams. But did you really have to knock over the protein shake Mom made me this morning?

"I sat through a two-hour exam on an empty stomach. My hands were shaking so bad on the last problem that I almost passed out right there.

"You can be jealous of my grades all you want, but you don't get to mess with my future."

The crowd erupted the second she finished. I caught a few girls from school pulling out their phones to film me, muttering just loud enough for me to hear, "That's her. The one who got written up for copying Joey's answers. What a piece of work. She's seriously twisted."

More comments floated past.

"The side character is actually evil. She knocked over the female lead's breakfast on purpose."

"Someone like that wants to go to college? She should just go work in a factory."

"Poor Joey, taking an exam on an empty stomach and still killing it. She is honestly a queen."

Dad's expression went dark. He got right in my face.

"How did I raise something like you? You can't hack it yourself, so you drag your sister down?"

Mom chimed right in, frowning. "Exactly. If Joey's score suffers because of this, you can forget about college. You'll drop out and get a job to pay for her to retake it next year."

I stood there and looked at the three of them together, a perfect little family unit. I was the one who didn't belong.

That protein shake this morning had been knocked over by Joey herself, on purpose, and she'd pinned it on me before I could blink. I'd been rushing to get to the exam and never had a chance to record proof.

If I tried to defend myself now, who would believe me?